Veteran safety Brian Dawkins said finding music on the practice field was a “pleasant surprise” when he showed up. Dawkins, along with a handful of other players like linebacker Wesley Woodyard and defensive linemen Chris Baker and Marcus Thomas, were the team’s most prolific stretch-time dancers.

“Music, you have the rhythm, you have beats,” Dawkins said. “It gets something going for me anyway. It really wakes something up that crowd noise just doesn’t do.”

While the addition of the tunes was universally applauded, the choice of songs often causes quite a stir.

The 10 offseason award winners each were allowed to create a playlist to be played during training camp. Some selections, especially songs by Michael Jackson — coach Josh McDaniels’ favorite artist — won universal approval. A playlist, though, from Peyton Hillis, which was almost all country, wasn’t such a hit.

Stokley, one of the award winners, said he went to his own iPod when creating his day’s playlist. Stokley said he tried to “mix it up” and include a couple of genres — country (Kenny Chesney) and rock (Pearl Jam) — to please more people.

“Music is in the ear of the beholder, you know, what is good music,” Dawkins said. “Some guys love country, some guys love rap or whatever. For me, I’ll listen to whatever as long as there isn’t a lot of cursing.”

Then and now

What music? The only sounds to be heard on the practice field were piped-in generic crowd noise or the air horn that signaled a switch to new drills. Former coach Mike Shanahan wasn’t exactly technology-friendly. If he didn’t use e-mail, chances are he wasn’t loading up an iPod, either.

iPod era. Mark Thewes, the assistant to Josh McDaniels, doubles as the practice deejay, selecting songs off an iPod. The songs range from rap (T.I.’s “My Life Your Entertainment” was a popular choice) to country (like Kenny Chesney’s “Summertime”) to classic pump-up songs (Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger”), with varying degrees of approval from the team. McDaniels’ personal playlist would be heavy on Michael Jackson.

EDMONTON, Alberta — In two games since returning from an eight-game injury absence, Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon has four points, including a goal, and multiple shots off the post or crossbar. The 22-year-old has undoubtedly re-proven that he is the Avs’ most valuable player — the player they must have in the lineup to make a legitimate playoff push.